Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to an electrosurgical forceps and, more particularly, to a method of manufacturing an end effector assembly including jaw members with seal plates having inwardly facing tab members formed thereon to facilitate overmolding the seal plates to respective jaw housings of the jaw members.
Description of Related Art
Electrosurgical forceps are well known in the medical arts. For example, an electrosurgical endoscopic forceps is utilized in surgical procedures, e.g., laparoscopic surgical procedure, where access to tissue is accomplished through a cannula or other suitable device positioned in an opening on a patient. The endoscopic forceps, typically, includes a housing, a handle assembly including a movable handle, a drive assembly, a shaft and an end effector assembly attached to a distal end of the shaft. Typically, the endoscopic forceps utilizes both mechanical clamping action and electrical energy to effect hemostasis by heating the tissue and blood vessels to coagulate, cauterize, seal, cut, desiccate, and/or fulgurate tissue. In particular, the jaw members operably communicate with the drive assembly to manipulate tissue, e.g., grasp and seal tissue and the jaw members have respective seal plates secured to the jaw housing of the respective jaw members to seal tissue.
As is conventional in the endoscopic forceps art, the seal plates are, typically, secured to the respective jaw housing of the respective jaw members via an overmolding process. In particular, a peripheral edge of the seal plate(s) is bent or folded downwards and, subsequently, bent or folded outwards providing a thin lip or tab (referred to in the art as a “pinch trim”) that is overmolded to the jaw housing. As can be appreciated, this results in a thin section of the overmolding that may deform at the high temperatures that are typically associated with an electrosurgical procedure, e.g., an electrosurgical sealing procedure. This deformation of the overmolding may lead to delamination of the of the seal plate from the jaw housing. The delamination of the seal plate from the jaw housing may increase the likelihood of flexure of the jaw members and/or seal plates, which, in turn, may increase the likelihood of the seal plates inadvertently coming into contact with one another resulting in arcs developing therebetween.
In addition to the foregoing, one or more wires are typically secured to the seal plates of the respective jaw members to provide electrosurgical energy thereto. In particular, one (in the case of monopolar endoscopic forceps configurations) or two (in the case of bipolar endoscopic forceps configurations) wires are secured to the seal plates on the respective jaw members via a crimping process. This crimping process is complex and increases manufacturing costs of the electrosurgical instrument. Moreover, this crimping process, e.g., a crimp-on terminal that is positioned on one or both of the seal plates and connects to the respective jaw wire, takes up a large amount of space in the relatively limited space of the jaw members.